


Realization

by phoenixwaller



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Falling In Love, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oblivious Yuri Plisetsky, Originally Posted on Tumblr, depictions of an auto accident, no major injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 12:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14619105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixwaller/pseuds/phoenixwaller
Summary: Yuri hadn't realized that he was in love with his best friend, until he was scared that he'd lost him.





	Realization

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to my tumblr as a middle of the night piece. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!

Yuri should have realized that he was in love with his best friend long before now. When he thought about it, the signs had been there for years, but he’d missed them over and over. 

In his defense, he thought that was just normal for friends. Friends were supposed to be close, weren’t they? After all, he didn’t have thoughts of doing gross things like the old man and Katsudon. 

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that love was more than snogging at every opportunity and being overly domestic. 

Love, as Yuri had come to realize, was about wanting to be with a person just because that person was there, and wanting to never lose them. It was about making time to preserve bonds. It was about being unconditionally supportive when needed, and willing to deliver a swift kick to the backside when the other person was being stupid. 

He kinda wished Beka had kicked some sense into him sooner, even as he snuggled into his embrace. 

Maybe the first time he should have noticed was the summer after he turned eighteen. Beka had come up from Almaty for a couple weeks, and Yuri was glad just to have the other man around for a bit. 

They’d had to squeeze past a group of ogling tourists when Yuri noticed it. “Beka…” he asked once they were out of the crowd. “You smell different. Did you switch soap?”

Otabek chuckled softly, almost as if there was a joke Yuri didn’t get. “I ran out of mine, and no stores around here sell it. So I’m using the hotel soap.”

Yuri scrunched his nose. “I think I prefer how you normally smell.”

Otabek chuckled again, but said nothing. 

In his defense, Yuri thought noticing how a friend smelled was natural. After all, Mila and Sara always got overexcited when showing off their new perfumes. 

Beka’s lips were against his hair as he recalled the time when he was nineteen and had just won the Internationaux de France. Beka had come in silver, and they decided to celebrate by drinking. 

They went to a club Beka knew, and ended up dancing with each other all night, alcohol thrumming through him. But Yuri was still unaccustomed to drinking, and had been drunk by the time they left.    

Beka had been so patient, holding onto Yuri as they walked back to the hotel. He’d helped him into bed, and somehow managed to stay on his feet as Yuri tried to pull him down too. 

“Want Beka as a pillow,” Yuri remembered drunkenly mumbling. 

“Go to sleep Yura,” Otabek had replied softly, running a thumb over Yuri’s cheek. “You don’t know what you want right now.”

Yuri knew he’d been pouting even as he fell asleep. 

The more Yuri thought about it the more times stood out as examples of just how deep his feelings for Otabek ran. He couldn’t even pinpoint when his feelings of friendship had developed into something more. They hadn’t been that way at the beginning, they barely knew each other, but somewhere along the way he’d fallen in love without even knowing it. 

Yuri wondered how much longer he would have remained oblivious if not for an accident that left him terrified that he’d never see Otabek again. 

Yuri had just turned twenty a few days before, and despite Worlds being only a couple weeks away Otabek had come up to celebrate. 

Yuri shuddered as he remembered the accident, and how the world had seemed to slow to a crawl just so he could see every detail. 

Otabek, smiling and waving as he headed toward his rented motorcycle. 

Otabek, careful as always, checking his mirrors and blind spots as he eased the bike into traffic. 

The red sports car that came off a side street too fast, clipping the front edge of the bike. 

The bike spinning, and Otabek being thrown when he finally lost control. 

Yuri sprinted the fifty meters or so to where his best friend was sprawled unconscious on the road. “Beka… Beka…” he cried. “Don’t leave me Beka… I love you.”

Three words, and Yuri’s world changed, because he knew it was true. 

“Please Beka,” Yuri begged. “Please. I love you. Please be ok.”

A groan, and Yuri cried tears of relief as Otabek’s eyes fluttered open. Somewhere in the distance he could hear sirens. 

“Yura?”

Yuri choked back a sob. “Beka… I was so scared.”

“What happened?” Otabek asked. 

“That stupid driver in the red car clipped your bike,” Yuri growled. He lowered his head, tears falling onto Otabek’s shirt. “I was so scared Beka. I thought I’d lost you!”

“Yura…” Otabek said slowly, reaching over and taking Yuri’s hand. “I’m ok. Sore, probably bruised to all hell, but I’m ok. Everything’s ok.”

“Everything’s  _not_  ok!” Yuri cried. “You were spinning, then flying! It wasn’t far but… I love you Beka!” Yuri leaned his forehead against Otabek’s chest and heaved sobs of relief. “I love you… I love you… I love you.”

A hand on his back, the sound of rushing feet. 

“I know,” Otabek said softly. “I’ve known for a while.”

Yuri’s head shot up. “You’ve… known?”

Otabek smiled. “You’ve loved me for at least the last two years.”

Paramedics kneeling beside Otabek, but Yuri was lost to their words.  _Otabek knew._

Yuri was numb as he rode along to the hospital. He fidgeted in the waiting room, even as the old man and Katsudon came in to be with him. He realized in what they didn’t say that they knew too. 

The only one who hadn’t realized that Yuri was in love with Otabek, was Yuri. 

The doctor cleared them to go back and visit. Victor and Katsudon made their visit brief, then it was just Otabek and Yuri together. 

“You… knew?” Yuri asked. 

Otabek smiled, and scooted over on the bed. He patted the empty space, and in that moment all Yuri wanted was to curl up in his arms. 

“I’ve known for a while Yura,” Otabek murmured as his arms circled Yuri. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You weren’t ready.”

Yuri looked up into Otabek’s eyes, and somehow laughter bubbled up from inside. “I made my senior debut to a theme of unconditional love, but I didn’t even recognize it when it was all around me.”

Otabek laughed. “You’ve always been more prone to hissing at people than cuddling them Yura. I figured you’d get it eventually.”

Yuri buried his face against Otabek’s chest, and felt Otabek’s arm tighten around him. 

“Now what?” Yuri finally had the courage to ask, terrified that now that he’d crossed the bridge they wouldn’t be able to go back. 

“That’s up to you,” Otabek said softly. 

“What do you want?” Yuri asked in a timid voice. 

“I’d like to see where this goes,” Otabek replied. “I’ve been aware of my feelings for almost as long as I’ve seen them in you.”

Yuri’s face shot up. He studied Otabek’s expression, searching for the confirmation of what he thought he’d heard. “Beka?”

Otabek smiled. “I love you too Yuri. I’d like to be your boyfriend… if you’re ok with that.”

Yuri didn’t know so many emotions at once could exist. Tears streamed down his face even as he nodded. “Yes. Yes.”

Their eyes met, and there was a tension between them. 

Then the doctor walked into the room. 

Yuri glared at the woman even as she turned on a panel and stuck some x-rays to it. 

“Good news Mr. Altin,” she said, pointedly ignoring Yuri’s glares. “Nothing broken. You’ll be hurting for a few weeks, but you can probably compete if you’re careful with practice. You’ve mostly got bruises and only a few abrasions where your clothes tore. All in all, you’re very lucky.”

“Thanks doctor,” Otabek replied. 

She nodded. “I’m keeping you overnight for observation, but if there are no problems we’ll release you first thing in the morning.”

Otabek nodded and the doctor left again. 

Yuri curled up, resting his head on Otabek’s chest. 

_Beka was going to be ok._

“Yura?” Otabek asked.

Yuri realized he was crying. “Sorry,” he replied, wiping his tears. “Just relieved.”

Otabek smiled, then ran his fingers under Yuri’s chin. 

Yuri’s breath caught in his throat, and he found himself starting at Otabek’s lips. 

Then they were kissing, soft and sweet. Yuri’s senses were overwhelmed: Otabek’s smell, the coarseness of slightly chapped lips, the warm mouth against his own. He found he had to close his eyes just to focus on everything else.

Otabek sighed as the kiss ended, and Yuri opened his eyes in surprise. 

“Beka?”

Otabek smiled. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”

Yuri smiled and shifted to be closer to Otabek. “Then don’t stop now.”

Otabek smiled and claimed Yuri’s mouth once more. 

Once they’d got it out of their systems Yuri settled down in the circle of Otabek’s arms, grateful that the accident hadn’t been worse. “I love you,” he murmured, tasting the words as they left his mouth. 

“I know,” Otabek replied with a chuckle. “I love you too.”

Yuri smiled and snuggled against his boyfriend.

Yuri still couldn’t imagine being as gross as Victor and Katsudon, but maybe snogging wasn’t so bad after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I appreciate any comments, kudos or shares. 
> 
>  
> 
> Head over to tumblr and yell at me about Yuri On Ice at [phoenixwaller.tumblr.com](http://phoenixwaller.tumblr.com)
> 
> Find my other YoI fanfics on my AO3 profile at <http://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixwaller/profile>


End file.
